Chapter 35
Ruby
Ilie back on the table, not because I’m brave, not because I’m in control, but because I can’t not.
Not when he’s looking at me like this. Like I’m all he’s been thinking about for days.
The tinted windows make the room feel unreal, private, smoky, intimate. A place where things happen that no one else needs to know about.
He steps closer, slow enough that the anticipation lifts goosebumps over my skin.
His hands slide up my thighs, warm, strong, sure.
I draw in a sharp breath. My whole body tightens around the sensation.
His thumbs sweep along the inside of my legs, spreading heat everywhere they touch.
He leans over me, not touching yet, just watching my reaction, just letting me feel the weight of his presence above me.
“Ruby,” he whispers, voice low and rough, “look at me.”
I do. Big mistake. Or the best one I’ve ever made.
Because the second our eyes lock, the second he sees the need I can’t hide, his restraint snaps.
His mouth crashes onto mine, deep, claiming, hungry, and I gasp into him, grabbing at his shirt like it’s the only solid thing in the world.
He kisses me like he’s starving. Like the hours we spent apart were too long. Like he can’t get close enough.
His hand slides under my back, lifting me against him. The other moves slowly up my thigh, teasing the edge of my skirt.
My breath breaks.
My hips arch.
His breath hitches, a low, dark sound that sends heat straight through me.
He trails kisses down my throat, slow and hot, and my fingers tangle in his hair, pulling him closer without meaning to.
“Jaxon,” I whisper.
His mouth pauses against my skin.
“Yes,” he breathes.
“I want..." My voice dissolves into a shaky breath.
He lifts his head. His eyes are molten.
“Tell me.”
“I want you,” I say, barely audible. “I want this.”
His jaw tightens. Not in anger. In restraint. In hunger.
He leans down, his forehead touching mine.
“Then you have me,” he whispers. “All of me.”
His lips find mine again, slow this time, deep, intentional.
His hands slide under my thighs. He lifts me, shifting me back on the table, keeping my mouth locked to his.
Heat pulses low and sharp. My legs wrap around him without thinking.
He groans into my mouth.
Oh god.
He kisses me harder, then pulls back just enough to murmur against my lips:
“Say you want more.”
I breathe, “I want more.”
That’s all he needs. He tilts my chin up, kisses me again, longer, deeper, hungrier, and the world tilts.
JAXON
She opens for me like she was built to fit in my hands.
Her breath breaks beautifully. Her nails scrape my shoulders. Her body arches into every touch, every inch of pressure, every deepening of the kiss.
I’ve wanted this, every sound, every shiver, every helpless gasp, far more than I should.
But I’m done pretending.
I kiss her harder, losing the careful edges, letting the heat take over. She clings to me, wrapping her legs around my waist like she needs me closer.
God.
I guide her back on the table, my body following, caging her in warmth and weight.
She whispers my name like a secret.
I lower my mouth to her throat, kissing down the line of her pulse, feeling it flutter against my lips.
“I want all of you,” she breathes.
My restraint snaps.
I kiss her again, slow at first, then deeper, my hands sliding up her waist, lifting her, pulling her against me.
She gasps into my mouth.
I swallow it.
Then I whisper against her lips:
“Tell me to stop.”
She shakes her head immediately.
“Ruby.”
“I don’t want you to stop.”
My breath leaves me in a rough exhale.
“Then I’m taking you,” I murmur, voice low, close to losing control.
“And I’m not holding back.”
RUBY
His mouth trails down my neck. His hands slide beneath fabric. Heat surges everywhere he touches.
I pull him in. He lifts me higher. His breath hits my ear, low, hungry, wrecking.
And when he finally lowers his lips to my skin, Everything dissolves.
The tinted room. The table. The world.
Just him and me and the way he whispers my name right before the rest of the night swallows us whole.